The Secret
by richonnesmints
Summary: Athena surprises Bobby at the firehouse and Hen may or may not tell her boss about a certain secret that involves her best friend's wild, forgetful night with handcuffs.


Bobby had just finished washing a few dishes when Athena walked up with a cup of coffee in her hand. It had been an unusually slow day for the firehouse and Bobby guessed it was slow for Athena too since she had visited him at work. The only time she ever did that was when she had just finished her shift.

"Good morning," Athena greeted her boyfriend.

Bobby smiled as he eyed the cup of coffee she was carrying. The name "Bobby" was written on the side.

"I've never seen it this empty," she said as she looked around the fire house.

"It's rarely like this. I sent most them home for now," Bobby told her.

"This is for you," Athena said as she made it to Bobby and handed him a cup. "I was sitting at the station and I started thinking of you... and then I decided to go get some coffee, so I got one for you too."

Bobby grabbed the cup out of her hand and smiled when he saw a small heart drawn beside the "y.".

"Cute," he whispered.

"I'm surprised they spelled your name right and remembered to draw the heart," Athena muttered.

Bobby's brows raised in confusion. "My name is so easy to spell though."

"You'd think it would be, but people at those coffee places can't spell anything right. One time someone wrote Boby(Bo- bee) on your cup and I had to go back and get another one… and I had to spell your name for them."

Bobby laughed. "You know you could've just gave me the cup with my name spelled wrong and I would've drank it anyway, right?"

Athena shrugged. "I know, but you're Bobby, not Boby."

Bobby shook his head and grinned. "Thank you for this."

Athena placed her hand on Bobby's and smiled. "You're welcome.

Bobby put his coffee on the counter and Athena moved closer and kissed him.

"What would you… like to do… for our date tonight?" Bobby managed to get out in between kisses.

"Mmm," she moaned against his lips before pulling away.

"We could get dressed up and go out to eat?" Athena suggested.

"That sounds good to me."

"Hey, Cap," they heard Hen say from behind them.

Once Hen reached the top of the stairs, she froze as her eyes landed on Athena and Bobby.

"Oh, I didn't know you were here, Athena. I can come back later. I'm sorry if I interrupted anything," she said as she eyed them. A smile began to form on her lips.

Bobby quickly realized that Hen was probably the most excited person when he and Athena let everyone know they were together. Whenever Hen was around, she would always smile and look at them with so much admiration. And knowing that Hen was that happy for them honestly meant the whole world to Bobby.

"What do you need, Hen?" Bobby asked her.

"I don't need anything, sir. I was just going to tell you the wifi is working again. I'll see you two later." Hen turned around to walk down the steps, but the sound of Bobby and Athena's voice stopped her.

"You can stay," they both said at the same time.

Hen turned around and her brows raised. "You finish each other's sentences now?" Very adorable."

She made her way to the table and pulled out a chair. She sat down and placed her hands on the table.

"Is your day slow too, Athena?" Hen asked.

Athena sighed. "Yeah, I haven't seen it like this in a long time… there's not many people here. Why are you still hanging around?"

Hen shrugged. "I don't have anywhere important to be, and I don't want to go home. Karen's working and Denny's at school, and I don't want to go home to an empty house. It just feels strange, you know? So I asked Bobby if I could stick around just in case he needs me to do something… or needs me to leave you two alone, which I will do if you want me to. I'll just go and see if the guys need help cleaning up the trucks."

Bobby shook his head. "It's okay. You can stay. Athena and I were only talking about what we should do for our date tonight."

"We're going out to eat," Athena added.

Hen nodded. "If you're looking for a new place to eat, Karen and I went to that new Chinese place down on East Main last week. It was amazing."

Athena looked over at Bobby with a questioning look on her face. "Would you like to go there?"

"I would love to."

Athena smiled. "Okay, then. It's settled."

Bobby and Athena continued to smile at each other in silence until they heard Hen say "aweee". Bobby was sure she was doing that because of him and Athena, but when he looked over, her eyes were glued to her phone.

"What are you looking at?" Athena asked Hen.

"A kitten," Hen said with the biggest grin on her face. "You want to see?"

Bobby and Athena walked over to the table and sat down close to Hen; they sat next to each other. Hen showed them the picture and they both smiled.

"He's cute!" Athena exclaimed.

"Yeah," Hen agreed. "Denny has been wanting a dog and Karen said no to that, so then he came back a few days later and asked for a cat. So I found this website where people post pictures of animals they're giving up for adoption, and I'm gonna try… try is the key word here… to convince Karen to get a cat."

"I love cats," Athena revealed.

"I love dogs too, I just love cats a little bit more. What about you, Bobby? Cats or dogs?" She asked, looking over at her boss.

Dogs. Definitely," Bobby told her.

"Oh, come on, what's wrong with cats?" Hen asked him in a surprised tone. "They're quiet, loving, clean, and they purr."

"But they can also kill you," Bobby added.

"Okay, Bobby. I think you might be overreacting just a bit. Cat's aren't that dangerous," Hen told him.

"They can be," Bobby argued.

"Dogs chew on everything," Athena pointed out.

"Good point," Hen agreed, looking up from her phone.

"I just don't like them," Athena said

"Something bad must have happened with a dog and that one dog managed to change the way you feel about all of them," Bobby noted.

"Something like that," Athena muttered. "I could say the same thing to you about cats."

"I'll tell you my story if you tell me yours," Bobby suggested, winking at her.

Athena grinned. "Fine."

Hen put her phone on the table and gave both of them her undivided attention. Bobby smirked at the way Hen was acting. She was acting like everything that Bobby and Athena talked about was the most important things she had ever heard.

"Bobby, I'm bored. This will be interesting," Hen told him.

Bobby shook his head before he began to speak. "There's not much to this story at all. When I said cats can kill you, I wasn't talking about how their claws or anything like that. They can kill you if you're allergic to them. I am. I hadn't really been around cats when I was a kid, so I got really excited when my best friend's family adopted one.. I went over to his house all the time, so I would get to play with the cat whenever I wanted to. But the first time I went over to his house after he had gotten the cat, I don't even think I was there but fifteen minutes before my throat started closing up. His parents had to rush me to the hospital and by the time we got there, my face was turning blue. I made it there just in time… It's not that I don't like cats, it's just not a very good idea for me to be around them."

Bobby looked over at Athena and then Hen and both of their eyes were wide open. Athena ran her thumb over the back of Bobby's hand.

"You definitely weren't overreacting when you said that cats could kill you. I'm sorry," Hen apologized. "Are you allergic to dogs too?"

"No. I'm fine around them. It's strange, but a doctor explained it all to me when I was a kid. It's something that has to do with the proteins that cats have in their fur, saliva, and other things like that and that's what people like me are allergic to."

"Wow, I actually didn't know that. That's unbelievable," Hen said.

Bobby glanced over at Athena. "Now, let's hear your story."

She sighed before she began. "It's definitely not as scary as yours, but… I had this roommate when I was twenty and she had this huge dog… he probably weighed at least 50 pounds. I don't even remember what kind he was, but he would chew on everything. I went through five pairs of shoes in just a few months… and one day, I forgot my keychain- which had my apartment key and a key for our mailbox in the building attached to it- and by the time I finally got back in to get it, the keys were broken in half by the dog. He actually chewed on them… and I had to end up paying thirty dollars for replacement keys, and that was money I barely even had. It was just a terrible experience."

Bobby grabbed Athena's hand. "I'm sorry."

Athena gave him a small smile. "And that's why I'm not a fan of dogs. I know it was a long time ago, but I guess I could also say I'm scared of them too. It's a silly thing, I know," she muttered as she shrugged.

"Hey, it's not silly," Bobby assured her.

Hen roared with laughter and Bobby and Athena actually jumped because they weren't expecting it at all.

"What's so funny?" Bobby asked.

She tried her best to compose herself before she answered him. "I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at your story, Athena. I'm really not. But you said something that made me think of something and I-" Hen stopped talking and began to laugh again.

Bobby and Athena looked at Hen with the most confused expressions on their faces. They had no idea what she was laughing at.

"Are you going to fill us in on what you're laughing at or do we have to guess?," Athena asked.

There were actually tears coming out of Hen's eyes and she wiped them away before she spoke. "Now I know that you've always forgotten to grab your keys."

"What are you talking about?" Athena questioned.

"Now Athena, I know you didn't forget."

"Forget what?"

Hen ignored her friend and turned to her boss.

"Hey, Bobby? Do you remember that day when I was sneaking around here and you asked me if everything was okay? And then when I said I had to go help Athena with a personal problem and I wouldn't let you come with me when you asked to? Do you remember what I'm talking about?"

Bobby nodded. He immediately remembered what day she was talking about. He was worried about her and Athena and it really confused him that she wouldn't let him come along.

Hen chuckled. "Well, your girl here got herself into a bit of a situation. I had to go help her after she got handcuffed to a bed and didn't have the keys… her story about the dog and forgetting her keys reminded me."

"Hen!" Athena practically shouted.

Bobby was sure Athena would have gotten up, but the only thing that stopped her was their interlocked hands. She just scooted the chair closer to him and hid her face against his shoulder.

Bobby looked over at Hen and down at Athena and he was officially the most confused person in the world in that moment. Hen was obviously entertained by the conversation and the look on Athena's face was nothing but embarrassment. Whatever it was must have been pretty bad because he had never seen her like that.

But Bobby had forgotten all of that quickly when he realized that Athena could have gotten hurt during the handcuff situation. He began to get angry, especially since Hen had never let him go help to begin with.

"Wait," He said, confused. "Did that happen during a call? Was she in trouble or did she get hurt because if you didn't let me go because of that then…"

Before Bobby could finish, Hen interrupted.

"No no no, it was nothing like that," She quickly said. "She didn't get hurt, but technically she would've been in trouble if I hadn't showed up," Hen said before she laughed to make the conversation lighter. "It turns out Athena has a kink for handcuffs."

Bobby's mouth fell open and his eyes widened. He knew exactly why Athena was so embarrassed. But on the other hand, he was quite amused.

But then, images of a half-dressed Athena handcuffed to a bed crashed into his mind. Bobby had to get rid of those really fast or his tight fitting pants would show what he really thinking about.

"I mean, I don't know if you're into that sort of thing. I really don't want to know," Hen said as she gestured towards Bobby, "but I'd just thought I'd tell you ahead of time so you can remind her to not forget the keys next time… because you know, I didn't mind it last time, but I don't wanna have to show up to your apartment and see you two in that type of situation. You're my boss and there's some things you just can't unsee once you've seen them."

Athena stopped hiding her face against Bobby's arm and looked up at her friend.

"Thanks, Hen," Athena muttered sarcastically.

"Hey," Hen said as she shrugged as she looked Bobby and Athena, who was still slightly mortified about the situation. "I'm just informing your man on some things… at least I didn't talk about it at one of the firehouse dinners when Chim, Buck, and the rest of them would be here. I would never embarrass you like that."

"Then, what was this?" Athena questioned.

Hen desperately tried to stop the smile that was forming, but she failed. "I only told Bobby. It's not like I went downstairs and used the intercom to announce it or anything like that. And Athena, I'm actually surprised you're that embarrassed, considering you two sneak off between the fire trucks."

It was Bobby's turn to be embarrassed. He could feel his face getting hotter.

"Do you know everything?" Athena asked her.

"Well, I wouldn't consider myself a genius, but I do know a lot."

Hen looked at Bobby and Athena and they had the weirdest expressions on her face. She obviously hadn't given the answer that her best friend wanted.

She laughed. "Oh, wait. You're talking about you and Bobby… no, I don't know everything. I explained about how I knew about your relationship. I know my best friend and I know my boss, so of course, I know when something's up with you two… and about the sneaking off between the fire trucks, I only found out one day because I heard a loud sound and I thought someone had fallen off one of the trucks… so I ran to see what it was and then I saw you two kissing. And I didn't stick around to watch because that would've been extremely weird, but I did stay close by to make sure no one walked that way and caught you."

Hen stood up and stretched. "Well, I think I'm going to down and see what some of the others are doing."

Hen started speed walking away and laughing.

"Why are you running away?" Athena asked her.

Hen stopped and looked at Athena. I don't know if I've said too much, but I think it might be best for me to run away from here now."

"I'm not about to run after you," Athena replied.

"Neither am I," Bobby added.

"Good, because neither of you will catch me."

"Now, what is that supposed to mean?" Athena questioned.

Hen turned to face her and she had the biggest grin on her face. She shrugged. "What you do think I mean? Do you really think I'm calling you old? All I'm saying is I'm faster."

And with that, Hen began to make her way down the steps.

"So…" Bobby said as he looked over at Athena. "That was really nice of Hen, you know… looking out for us like that at the fire trucks."

They weren't technically breaking any rules; it wasn't like they were kissing in the middle of the call. They had already taken care of the situation before they even thought about kissing. But if the right person (someone who was their boss) caught them in such an act, it definitely would've been frowned upon. Bobby really appreciated Hen looking out for them.

"It was," Athena agreed.

"And about the other story...You don't have to tell me the rest of it. It's pretty self explanatory… and you don't need to be embarrassed. I actually thought it was funny."

Athena gave him a questioning look.

"Not in a laughing at you kind of way, I was laughing with you," he stated quickly.

Athena smiled a little at that. "I see."

Bobby positioned himself on his chair so he could face Athena.

"Everyone has at least one big embarrassing thing that happens to them in their lives," he assured her as he grabbed her hand.

Athena's brows raised. "Embarrassing as accidentally getting yourself handcuffed to a bed without keys during foreplay?"

The images of Athena flashed through his mind again, but this time, she was straddling him and he was the one handcuffed to the bed. Bobby's heart began to race; he bit his cheek to try to distract himself from the thoughts.

Bobby had never really been into the idea of handcuffs; in fact, he never really even cared about trying it, but the thought of Athena handcuffing him to the bed and fucking him until he couldn't even remember his name made him feel things… so many things. God, he wanted her so badly.

And if he kept thinking about it, he was sure he was going to come right then and there.

It was certainly not the time to be thinking about sex. First of all, they were in the middle of a fire house and anyone could walk up there and Bobby definitely didn't need any of his coworkers seeing how hard he was. And secondly, Bobby was trying to make Athena feel better, so he desperately needed his body to control itself while he did so.

"Is everything okay?" Athena asked.

Shit.

Bobby had to straighten up or she was going to find out. Maybe she already knew.

Bobby silently thanked God when an embarrassing thing that happened to him popped into his head. He cleared his throat and tried his best to smile.

"I'm fine," he told her. "Having your clothes stolen while you go skinny dipping in the middle of the night can be life ruining."

Athena chuckled. "That isn't a good example. That only happens in the movies."

He shook his head. "No. That happened to me when I was eighteen. It was during a trip after graduation. My whole class saw everything."

Athena's eyes widened. "Okay, you know what? That might actually be more embarrassing than what happened to me. I don't know what I'd do."

Bobby shrugged. "I think the only thing that got me through it was focusing on the fact that I'd never see most of them again. That was the only positive thing about it."

"The only positive thing," Athena repeated before she gave him half a smile.

Bobby moved in and kissed down the right side of her cheek. His lips had just touched hers when her phone vibrated in her pocket.

She grabbed her phone. "Grant," she answered.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," she said before hanging up.

She kissed Bobby once before she stood up.

"I have to go. There was a bank robbery and they need me."

Bobby nodded. "I'll walk you to your car."

He grabbed her hand and they made their way down the stairs. Athena shook her head as they passed by Hen at one of the fire trucks.

"Call me later," Hen said with a smile.

"You know what? I don't think I will," Athena tried to say seriously, but she began to smile a little.

"I see how it is. You know that pretending to be mad at me never works."

"I know," Athena said.

"You love me," Hen stated.

"I do. That's exactly why I can never be mad at you."

Hen started laughing. "I love you too. You be safe out there today."

Athena smiled. "I always am."

"Hen?" Bobby said.

"Yeah, Cap?"

"Thanks for looking out for Athena and I."

Hen smiled. "It's no problem, Bobby. I've always got your backs."

Bobby and Athena smiled before they walked outside. The sun was beating down on them. It was so humid outside; Bobby was sure it was going to get at least ninety degrees.

Athena got into her car and Bobby made sure she was settled in before he shut the door.

Bobby remembered his coffee that was currently sitting on the countertop getting cold.

"Thanks again for the coffee."

Athena smiled. "You're welcome… so do you just want to meet at the restaurant or meet up at your place?"

It took Bobby a few seconds to actually remember what she was talking about. The story about the handcuffs had made him forget about their date. He kind of wanted to skip the date and try something else… but he didn't know if Athena would like the idea.

Bobby chuckled nervously. "I actually want to do something else."

"What do you want to do?"

Bobby looked down, avoiding her gaze. "Never mind. I don't want to make it weird."

"Hey," Athena whispered as she placed her hand on his cheek. She gently moved his head so that he was looking into her eyes. "Whatever you're thinking, I'm sure it can't be that bad."

Bobby sighed. "I know that story wasn't for me to know, but I can't even get a little annoyed at Hen for telling me about it, because the second I heard about how you have a thing for handcuffs, I began to think about you and me…." he trailed off.

"Tell me, Bobby," Athena whispered.

As soon as he heard her say his name, Bobby immediately got butterflies. He did every time she said it. It sounded so soft and lovely coming out of her mouth.

"First, I thought about you being handcuffed… to the bed and then me… being in handcuffs, and I don't know. I kind of wanted to try it, but it's just a stupid idea. We don't have to."

Athena's breath caught in her throat and she softly bit her bottom lip. Bobby sensed that she was thinking about the same thing.

"I want to if you want to," Athena said, barely above a whisper.

Bobby looked into her eyes and all he could see was desire.

"I can't think of a better way to spend my evening." Bobby told her, a smile forming on his face.

"Dammit," Athena cursed.

"What's wrong?"

Athena sighed. "I guess I have to thank Hen after all. If it weren't for her, we wouldn't be doing this tonight."

"I guess you do."

"Hey, Bobby?" Can I ask you something?" She asked.

There she went saying his name again. It was funny; he couldn't believe the effect she had on him. But then again, she was perfect, so why would simple things she said or did not do things to him?

"Anything."

"Were you thinking about… us earlier… when I asked you if you were okay?"

Bobby bit his cheek. She did know.

His eyes went from her eyes, to her lips, to her breasts. They slowly made their way back to Athena's eyes again.

"Yes."

They both stared into each other's eyes and didn't say a word. It stayed that way for about thirty seconds.

Athena cleared her throat and sighed. "Look at you… getting me all hot and bothered right when I have to go."

"I'm sorry." Bobby moved his head closer to hers and kissed her. Athena gasped when he gently bit her bottom lip before pulling back.

"That definitely didn't help," She told him.

Bobby smiled. She wanted him as much as he wanted her.

I don't want to, but I really have to go," she said.

Athena turned on her car and began to back up.

When she put her car in drive and drove a few feet, Bobby ran up to the car.

"Athena, wait!"

"What's wrong?"

Bobby smiled. "Nothing. I just wanted to remind you… don't forget the keys."

Athena shook her head and smiled. "Very funny, but the way you've been acting the last few minutes, I should forget them. You need to be punished."

"I'll be looking forward to it."

"But on a serious note, I definitely won't forget them."

Athena pulled out of the parking lot and waved at Bobby as she drove by.

All he could do was wave back with the biggest, most stupid grin on his face.

God, he loved her.


End file.
